Arrphays

The Arrphays are a species of people with serpentine bodies and two limbs each with three digits. Arrphays are native to a world called Treinaf, which is a moon that orbits a gas giant planet, and is tidally locked so that one side of the world is always facing the planet.

Arrphay society is very territorial, with individuals building nests at the top of the planet’s treelike growths, and don’t let anyone else near it. This isn’t done with animosity, it is the norm for these people, but violence results if the social mores of solitude are broken. During the appropriate times of the day when Arrphays meet for various reasons (feeding, mating, planning, etc.), the gatherings are done in shelters built on the ground, away from any occupied trees.

The Wallfixer named Zerbdoffer is a member of this species, though he has not spent any time on the planet since his Wallfixer powers manifested and he left to be trained.

Ediwung is an artist, who sets up large decorative objects (painted stones, shiny streamers, that sort of thing) around the ground shelters. The resulting decorations are nice, but the actual installation of the pieces, the construction, is a performance and that is what the Arrphays to consider to be the “art”.

Accolan is constantly nervous about wars breaking out. There have been wars on Treinaf before, though never on the kind of scale we on Earth know, but Accolan saw some of the worst of it, and is now certain it will happen again. Every slightest sign of turmoil, every hint of anger between two Arrphays causes Accolan to exclaim with certainty that the war is beginning! Everyone who lives near Accolan is getting pretty sick of it.

Marhutto lives in one of the tallest trees on the world. That is not generally a concern when building a nest, much more important is distance from other trees, but Marhutto is very proud of the height. The view from Marhutto’s nest is stunning. Marhutto often spends hours sitting and looking out over the planet and singing softly.

A Fact About Arrphays: Arrphays have no teeth, but their tongues and the roofs of their mouths are rough like sandpaper. They “chew” their food by rubbing it around in their mouths.

Universe: White

At some point, I wanted to create a He-Man style franchise which would have a bunch of characters that would fight in space. The idea was that they were all wizards who rode around in space on magical things. They just stood on the backs of their “Steeds” (that looked like worms and saucers and stuff) and held on to some reins and soared through space. I didn’t have any notes, just a single page of sketches of some characters. I guess I’ll have to flesh out the idea now, taking the four characters I sketched and adding a few more more, and coming up with a concept. I can never have enough magical aliens, I suppose:

Goolo

Goolo is a Vurjileod, which is the species that invented the techniques of the Universe Wizards. Centuries ago the wizards there learned to draw upon the very powers of the cosmos, the wizard created magical steeds they could ride at speeds greater than light. Sadly, this power corrupted the species and they spread throughout space with reckless abandon, causing all sorts of damage, both to the Vurjileods and to the other species they met. Now, in the present, there are not a lot of Vurjileods left, and those who are, like Goolo, are trying to fix the mistakes of the past by keeping Universe Wizard power out of the hands of those who would misuse it.

Vutger

Vutger is a Universe Wizard of mid-level power. Strong enough to impress those who are not magically inclined, but not enough to make a name among other Universe Wizards, Vutger craves power and respect more than anything else. With that in mind, Vutger spends a lot of time posing as a god on primitive worlds, and any other time scheming against anyone more powerful.

Dave Walter

Dave Walters has a name that sounds human, but that is sheer coincidence. Dave is actually a Gurmikon, a species that has suffered under attacks by evil Universe Wizards in the past. Learning the ways of their magic, Dave has become very powerful and now opposes any and all other Universe Wizards, hoping to remove the knowledge of their powers from the entire universe.

Fhufoo

Fhufoo is a Trabban who has mastered the Universe Wizard skills and left the homeworld behind. Fhufoo has claimed a small planet and uses it to horde wealth gathered in travels throughout the universe, either going on treasure hunts or as an adventurer for hire.

Toyg Takarame

Toyg Takarame is a Groean, which is a large species whose homeworld is the seat of a royal family that uses Universe Wizards as its elite soldiers. Toyg is one of those, using the vast magical power to patrol the limits of Groean territory and defend against cosmic threats. Toyg is a noble and loyal sort, and pretty powerful as well.

Karradak

Karradak is the vilest of the Universe Wizards, interested only in serving his own interests. He is also one of the most powerful Universe Wizards still in existence, having killed several others to drain their powers. Wanting nothing less than complete and utter conquest of the universe, Karradak is as much a villain as one could be. He lost a hand in a fight against Goolo, but has replaced it with a spike, which he finds suitable.

Last time on PDR Update: I had been released from the hospital and was healing up after some lung stuff.

Phase Wherever I Was

After getting out of the hospital, I went through a week or so of days that blur together almost as much as the hospital stay. I got back to the apartment, sure, but I was pretty limited in what I could do. Eventually I finally got the dressing on my back changed to one that allowed me to shower. That was a really big deal for me. I missed showering. I got shaved, I got a haircut, I got new shoes. Many things that made me feel more human again. I still needed (and still do as of this writing) to be home every day for a time period so I can get my antibiotics injections, but mostly I have freedom. Because I still couldn’t do much, the days were still long and boring.

Sunday April 23

This was the first night when I tried to work It was a busier night than I was hoping it would be. Students are still in town. When they are gone, things’ll slow down. Unfortunately, as a delivery person, part of my job involves lifting things and I have been warned that, for three more weeks, I am not supposed to lift more than ten pounds at a time. I don’t actually know how much ten pounds is, but it doesn’t sound like much. I probably did lift more than that on a couple occasions during the night, but you know who can’t afford three more weeks of not working? The guy who has already missed about a month’s worth of shifts because of this crap.

Monday April 24

Well, when I woke up on Monday I sure did have fresh blood around the base of my PICC Line. It wasn’t a lot, but it did make me more nervous about lifting things. The warning about weight, I thought, was supposed to be about not wanting to open the tube-hole in my back that goes to my lungs, but I guess I have to worry about the tube in my arm that travels through my veins to my heart as well. Figures.

Tuesday April 25

I can’t remember if anything in particular happened on Tuesday. But since I can’t remember what day I started thinking “Being sick involves more running errands than I would have thought,” so I’ll put it in the Tuesday section. Doing things like picking up more antibiotics forces me out in the daytime hours and has complicated my efforts to put myself back on my proper nocturnal schedule. Adding to the problem is that I have to be home for the antibiotics treatments, so I’ve only got the windows between my waking up and the treatment and between my treatment and when things close to get out there. Oh well. I am pro-antibiotics if they are what is killing my infection.

Wednesday April 26

This night, I also worked. I am told that it was the last day for students to be in town, so it may be easier from this point on, but it was still decently busy. I did at one point ask a cook to help me carry my bag to the car, so I was probably being more sensible. That may be why I did not wake up with any new blood having leaked from my arm the next day.

Thursday April 27

Today being two weeks from my release from the hospital, I had to go to a walk-in clinic for a visit to the waiting room, followed by a brief checkup with a doctor. I was told that I am “on the road to recovery” which is certainly good to know. I was less happy to learn that my left lung is still not getting the air it should be. I had been living under the assumption that as soon as I was drained and released from hospital, I was back in the ol’ two-lung club, but I guess it is going to take some time. Basically that means that all the extra energy I thought I had now and had attributed to getting more oxygen or whatever was a placebo effect. I am still not getting that extra oxygen. Gimme that oxygen!

But anyway, I am still getting those daily antibiotics. They’ll kill the infection and I’ll get that lung open for me. Sure they will.